Posts Tagged ‘limited’

The new Board of QR National was world class and would be a foundation block in helping set the business up for future success, QR Limited Chairman John Prescott said today.

Mr Prescott said today’s official announcement of the new nine-member Board was a key milestone in preparing the company for an IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange later this year.

QR National will be formed by the split of the current QR business with the Queensland Government retaining ownership of the passenger service business and assets, including ownership of the metropolitan rail networks in a new Government Owned Corporation called Queensland Rail.

All aspects of the current commercial operations including coal, freight, services and parts of network are being sold as a vertically integrated, multi-freight transport logistics enterprise to be called QR National.

“The new Board of QR National comprises some of the best business minds in the country,” Mr Prescott said.

“It is a strong mix of senior people with operational, technical, legal, financial and industrial experience.”

The new Board will comprise Russell Caplan, Andrea Staines, Gene Tilbrook, John Atkin, Graeme John as well as John Prescott, Lance Hockridge, Allan Davies and Peter Kenny.

“Allan, Peter, Lance and myself will bring knowledge and experience from the current QR Limited Board and management,” Mr Prescott said.

“This will be complemented by the unique business skills and experience of Russell, Andrea, Gene, John and Graeme.”

Mr Prescott said an extensive selection and recruitment program had been undertaken to get the best candidates for the QR National Board.

“QR National will potentially be a top 50 ASX company and will play a key role in shaping the future of the Australian rail sector,” he said.

“The outstanding calibre of this Board will ensure QR National is set up for success and will help provide the foundation for the business to grow into a world leader in the rail and transport logistics industry.”

Mr Prescott thanked all Directors of the current QR Limited Board for their service and work in improving the performance of the business.

“It is the hard work of these men and women that has allowed us to reach the stage that we have,” he said.

“Through a significant period of change and reform they have provided the platform to create two new successful companies for the future.”

The initial plan had been to use these engines on the proposed air-conditioned Mail Trains that were being designed at the time. This never eventuated, although they did regularly haul the “Midlander”, mainly between Emerald and Bogantungan for some years. They were used on the Rockhampton Mail and Sunshine Express in the early 1950s.

The first ten engines were constructed at Beyer Peacock & Co Limited Works in Manchester UK. Owing to the number of orders they had on hand, Beyer Peacock (BP) contracted Societe Franco Belge de Materiel du Chemins de fer, Raismes, France (FRB)to build the remaining twenty.

They were painted Midland red and had chrome yellow lining with large QR monograms on the sides of the front tank and bunker. Unfortunately this attractive livery easily discoloured particularly as a result of priming. The engines were not regularly cleaned when relegated to goods train working in latter years and their appearance rapidly deteriorated.

Originally trialled on the Brisbane – Toowoomba route, they were soon withdrawn from this section due to problems with limited clearances in the tunnels. They were used extensively on North Coast Line between Brisbane and Rockhampton. By 1956, this working had become restricted to mainly north of Bundaberg. They did not work north of St Lawrence on the NCL. On the Central Line they initially ran between Rockhampton and Emerald but from 1957 this was extended to Bogantungan.

A few were attached to Mayne until 1955 and some at North Bundaberg until 1956, when all were allocated to Rockhampton. In later years they worked Moura coal trains via Mount Morgan, prior to the opening of the ‘short line’ to Gladstone. One of their last regular tasks was on limestone trains between Tarcoola and Gladstone. Increasing numbers of diesels saw mass withdrawals of these engines. Twenty two were written off in June 1968.

They were subject to much positive publicity when introduced but failed to live up to all expectations. They were attributed with saving 19,500 miles of assistant and goods engine running on the Bundaberg – Rockhampton – Emerald sections between October 1950 and June 1951. Steaming difficulties were encountered with South Queensland coals; however they performed well on Blair Athol coal. The boilers had a tendency to prime. Limited coal and water capacity caused worries. General overhauls cost about three times those for a B18¼.

They had a number of unique features (for QR steam engines) including Ajax air operated butterfly fire doors, Hadfield power reversers, speedometers and also flow meters; the latter being fitted to the class in 1955.The outer bogies and inner trucks had roller bearings but the coupled axles has plain bearings. Several engines received fabricated stove pipe chimneys to replace the original cast ones that had been damaged.

N°1009, preserved as a static exhibit, was taken into Ipswich Workshops in 1993 and restored to working order. Subsequently due to a leaking fused plug, it has been out of service for quite some time.

* Test weighing proved some engines to be 11 tons over this design weight with 11TAL

This design was an improvement on earlier successful B18¼ incorporating modern appliances. Some modifications to the original design were suggested by Vulcan Foundry and subsequently adopted. A number of features, including the mounting of WH pump on fireman’s side, stainless steel rather than brass boiler bands, SCOA-P coupled wheels and pressed steel sand box, distinguished these engines from the earlier B18¼ class. Engines constructed by Walkers Limited used electricity for the light on the rear of the tender, for side lamps and to illuminate the motion. All were fitted with Roller Bearings and chime whistles. The engines were painted green when introduced.

The first batch was constructed by Vulcan Foundry and the last 20 by Walkers Ltd, Maryborough. Contracts were let to both manufacturers in 1948 but Walkers did not deliver its first engine until 1955 due to shortages of materials. Delays in these deliveries resulted in the last of the order, N°1089, not entering service until March 1958 and thus becoming the last mainline steam locomotive to be built and placed in service in Australia. In fact Walkers had delivered some diesels to QR before completing this order.

Several members of the class that were overhauled in the final years were repainted black. In the 1950’s a “standard” boiler was designed to be suitable for both this class and B18¼ engines.

They proved to be a most successful design and were popular with crews. Initially they were used on mail trains, long distance passenger and goods trains and northside suburban services. The introduction of diesels saw them gradually relegated to lesser duties and ultimately cut short their careers.

Last engines in service were N°1012, 1030, 1037, 1039, 1070, 1073, 1081 and 1084 at Mackay and N°1088 at Ipswich.